To love writing bad songs; please donate for Ahmed's surgery; being ready to write about something

Hey folks,

Welcome back to another edition of Sharing Notes! Read in your browser here.

I've been wanting to write you all for a couple weeks, but my long-COVID brain fog has been really intense. Chronically ill folks apparently call this time the October slide.

To love writing bad songs

Stephen Merritt, of The Magnetic Fields, says, "I love writing stuff that isn't any good; it's an important part of writing." Similarly, Jeff Tweedy says, "I don't like every song I write, but I like that I wrote it." If we love, or even simply like writing songs, we must allow ourselves to enjoy writing bad songs too. Lynda Barry asks, "Good or bad: is one always in exchange for the other? Is there something missing in both?" Perhaps what's missing is blamelessness. "Creativity is a blameless process," says Jimmy Webb.

Please donate for Ahmed's surgery

My friend in Gaza, Mahmoud, is still fundraising for his nephew Ahmed to receive a life-saving surgery. For months, Ahmed has suffered a virus that causes fever, difficulty breathing, and lesions. The lesions have resulted in an infection and open wound in his lower abdomen. They have only £330 (~$440 USD) left to reach this goal. Please contribute to their fundraiser here, and please help me share their story. Mahmoud has been vouched for by Gaza Verified.

Being ready to write about something

Have you ever tried to write about something and fallen flat? I'm not talking about the brain fog I've had this month—I'm talking about not being able to express inner thoughts, feelings, experiences. Sometimes you don't yet have the perspective or insight to write about it, and that's okay. Sometimes more emotional healing may need to take place so you can share your scars, not your wounds. And sometimes you may just need to allow your thoughts and skills time to gestate.

ICYMI

• The Tower of Babel Falls is one year old!
• New Ramsey Lee single I produced
• My review of Maddie Zahm's latest record published at Rainbow Rodeo

Shareables

• Bobby Owsinski says radio beats algorithms now
• Americana is cringe, "created from the top-down"

That's all for now. Thank you for reading! Write back anytime.

Peace,
Arend

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